Friday, August 8, 2014

ANA's Boeing 787-9 enters service.

All Nippon Airways (NH/ANA) became the first airline in the world to place the Boeing 787-9 into scheduled revenue service on August 7th, when JA830A, their first of the stretched Dreamliner, inaugurated operations on the Tokyo/Haneda (HND/RJTT) – Fukuoka (FUK/RJFF) route (ANA to fly Boeing 787-9 inaugural on August 7th.). The aircraft also flew to Osaka/Itami (ITM/RJOO) and Matsuyama (MYJ/RJOM) later in the day.

The inaugural flight, NH241, departed Spot 60 of Haneda's Terminal 2 at 0730 JST with 387 passengers (including 11 infants) and 11 crew. It was piloted by Captains Katsuki Ikeda and Yuichi Yamamoto, with Ikeda-san in command, while the Chief Purser was Kazuyo Nishizono. President and CEO Osamu Shinobe was also present at the ceremony that took place at the gate. ANA took delivery of JA830A on August 27th and it arrived at Haneda on July 29th (ANA takes delivery of first Boeing 787-9.). It operated a special sightseeing flight carrying Japanese and American primary (elementary) school students on August 4th (ANA flies world's first Boeing 787-9 passenger flight.).

Compared to the 787-8, the Dash 9 incorporates an additional 3.05-meter section in both the forward and aft of the fuselage, stretching the airframe by 6.1 meters. It can fly approximately 555 kilometers farther than the original version. Compared to the 767-300ER, the second member of the Dreamliner family can carry 1.2 times more passengers and cargo, and fuel economy will also be 23% better, according to ANA. The airline has said the 787-8 is 20% better than the 767-300ER.

Powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, ANA's domestic 787-9s are being configured in a 395-seat layout with 18 Premium Class (six abreast; 2-2-2) and 377 economy class (nine abreast; 3-3-3) seats, carrying 60 more passengers (six Premium Class and 54 economy) than their domestic 787-8s. Another domestic 787-9, registered JA833A, will be delivered this autumn, while the first long-haul international 787-9 configured with 215 seats (48 business, 21 premium economy, and 146 economy) will be delivered in early 2015. ANA is the biggest 787 customer to date, with orders counting 36 787-8s (28 delivered), and 44 787-9s (1 delivered).Reference: Aviation Wire, August 7th. (in Japanese)